jet – The Art of Bill Horvath

*737 MAX. Rapidograph pen and ink on Strathmore 400 Series Bristol paper. 15″ x 15″ framed. $600*

The two accidents arising from the original design flaw in the Boeing 737 MAX are worth remembering for the terrible impact they had on the victims and surviving friends and family, and this piece is meant to honor their loss. Ongoing issues with production of this particular aircraft suggest it’s still not out of the woods.

Candidly, I’m not especially happy with the technical aspects of this piece, particularly the plane itself (which is not true to the proportions of the actual aircraft.) The victim’s family on the ground of one of the crash sites and the engine wreckage both have a bit too much ink on the page as well, and I wish I’d gone a bit lighter there. All that said, the overall look is decent, and there are some bright spots (like the duck/toucan, and the hidden moth) that are very redemptive and ameliorate my mild dissatisfaction.

Aleppo. Micron 01 pen on Strathmore 300 Series Bristol paper. 14 — Aleppo. Micron 01 pen on Strathmore 300 Series Bristol paper. 15″ x 15″ framed. $650

Update 6/21/2018: I’m delighted to report that this piece was accepted into the 2D Fine Art (Amateur) contest at the 2018 Ohio State Fair! Of the ~2,000 entries, 122 were selected for participation, and I’m deeply honored to be one of them. You can see it July 25-August 5 2018 at the Cox Fine Arts Center, on the south side of the fairgrounds in Columbus, Ohio. (The closest entrance is Gate 9 on 11th Avenue.)

I began this piece shortly before Aleppo was surrounded by government forces in the Syrian civil war, and it quickly became obvious that raising awareness of the brutality of the conflict’s impact on non-combatants would be a worthwhile subject. I used a still from a video to draw one of the many children who’ve been covered in dirt and blood by the barrel bombs and relentless pounding by Russian jets. Their ashen, blank expressions are truly heartbreaking.

From a purely artistic perspective, I’m very happy with the overwhelming majority of this one. The child and the cockpit came out extremely well, and the abstract sections are almost uniformly gratifying to me in their precision and depth. There are a couple of weak spots I’d do over if I could, notably the salamander and the forest giant, but overall I’d say this is one of my best works so far. I feel like I’m making progress improving my attention to detail, and it’s starting to pay off in the clarity and ‘pop’ of the final product.